Monday 29 July 2019

Feast of St Martha



John 11:25-27
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

Martha
The practical woman
The one who majored in hospitality
Patron saint of servants and cooks
A noble distinction
But also a woman
whose profession of faith
was unswerving
absolute
A woman
who looked into the abyss of death
and yet could proclaim
You are the Messiah
An attribute
conveniently overlooked
by the patriarchy
when her story
became history
Let’s re-member Martha
the multi tasking domestic goddess
and the faith filled
proclaimer of truth
This is what Biblical Womanhood looks like!

Saturday 27 July 2019

Prayer shenanigans

Luke 11:1
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”


Lord I love those times of solitude
when there is peace
and quiet
Perhaps on a beach
or in my special place of prayer
Those times
when I sense you close at hand
 when I can hear your voice
feel your nudging 
or just wallow in your presence
I love too those times
in the midst of noise
on a busy commuter train
with earbuds in
using a prayer app on my phone 
when you speak into the buzz all around.
Or, some days, on a crowded city street
you allow me to catch glimpses
of your Spirit
as she dodges around folk
who have their heads down
fretting about the night just past
or intent on the day to come
I love to see her
dancing her way
through the evening crowd
wearily trudging their way home
or in high spirits
intent on a good night out
And I give thanks
that you are in all of life.
You allowed those around you
to see you at prayer
and they liked what they saw - 
enough to ask: Teach us to pray 
So often the prayer that we put on display
is formal, prescribed, lacking in joy
unattractive to others
a caricature of all
that you suggested prayer should not be
Lord, Teach us to pray
with boldness
with exuberance
with laughter
and with tears
and may our prayer shenanigans
encourage others
to want to learn
how to pray 
May it be so...


Monday 22 July 2019

Love is love...


(A reflection on Mardigla 2019)

John 15:12
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

A simple command
Love one another
A command lived out by many
day in, day out
Those who catch the simplicity
the compulsion
and get on with it.
The church does not have 
a monopoly on love
But love does have
a monopoly on the church
And then there are others
who take the simple
and distort it beyond recognition
fencing it around 
with conditions
and qualifications
The church does not have 
a monopoly on love
But love does have
a monopoly on the church
Christ’s church you might think
would defend the simple imperative
Instead, we are
the worst offenders
and defenders
The church does not have 
a monopoly on love
But love does have
a monopoly on the church
So why is life so full of encounters
with young and old
confessing, with tears in their eyes
I love Jesus
but I have been rejected by the church.
The church does not have 
a monopoly on love
But love does have
a monopoly on the church
How can we be better
How might we recover
the simplicity
of Christ’s command?
Not so that we look good
not so that churches grow
But so that love wins every time
The church does not have 
a monopoly on love
But love does have
a monopoly on the church

Friday 19 July 2019

Sacrament in two parts

Luke 10:38-42
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Which is the better part?
For years interpretation has sought 
to divide Martha and Mary
determining that only one of them
can be commended by our Lord
that only one way
is important in the kingdom.
Yet truth be told
we know all too well
that we need those who welcome others
doing all the things necessary
to provide hospitality
as well as those 
who will take time to listen,
affording intimacy.
And in both women
we see the norms of the day
confounded yet again
turned on their head
by women refusing to conform.
Martha, welcoming Jesus boldly
as a head of a household might.
And Mary, sitting at the Rabbi’s feet
as a disciple might.
Both, in their own way contributing 
to the table fellowship they shared.
And, we can imagine Jesus
taking the fruits of Martha’s labour:
bread still warm from the oven
its aroma filling the room
and sweet, heady wine,
kept for just such an occasion
and, wrapped in the adoring gaze of Mary,
transforming those gifts
in the knowledge
that the portent of death
was not missed in this home
For here were two women
who simply got it
and, together, made room for the One
in whom everything made sense
Two women who demonstrated that love
does not consist in either/or
but in both/and.
Martha and Mary
who recognised
that the kingdom was near.

Wednesday 17 July 2019

Holy risk

Exodus 3:4-5
When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”


Holy ground
Sacred space
Inviting intimacy
Facilitating vulnerability
Cultivating call
For even when our awareness is
of God who is the ground of our being
inhabiting every moment
present in every breath
still we are compelled
to turn aside
to glimpse that which is beyond
our familiar sightings.
Compelled 
to turn aside
to glimpse afresh
the intriguing
mischievous
butt kicking
playful
God
who knows when we have settled for less
when we have resigned ourselves
to a life that brings peace
but not fulfilment 
or the abundance God desires for us
God knows
when we are riding the car ferry
rather than the coracle
because we fear we are not enough
or even too much...
God shakes up our complacency
and offers new perspective
but only when we risk
stepping off the well worn
and perhaps hard won track
so that we might glimpse
an unimaginable future 
that can only be forged
in partnership
with a pyromaniacal God.



Monday 15 July 2019

Good intentions

Acts 9:3-5
Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

As I read the story of Paul’s conversion, his Damascus Road Confrontation, I am reminded that Paul was not some crazy anti-God crusader - he was engaged in a mission to which he fully believed he had been called. He was a defender of the faith that he saw being bastardised by a new sect, known as Christians. In Paul’s eyes, these new kids on the block were taking the notion of God that had upheld and sustained people for centuries, giving credence to a new form of deity in the person of Jesus, and worshiping a martyred itinerant preacher and prophet.
I believe that just one of the challenges facing the church today, as we discern God’s mission and our place in that, is to avoid demonising those defenders of the faith who operate in our institutions and in our congregations, at best being ineffective and, at worst, stifling and inhibiting growth. If our energy is focused on fighting opposition we are in danger of missing out on opportunity. That’s not an easy place to be but perhaps subversion rather than energy sapping confrontation is called for - hearing the “no” and doing it anyway, letting actions and results speak louder than words. God has a way of acting through us and in spite of us! Perhaps the call is to fight less and be more - be kind, be compassionate, be love, be hope, be Christ ... Be the reason that others discover their place in the subversive economy that is the kingdom of God, where the last shall be first, the weak shall be strong and the poor shall be rich. Let’s enable that rather than fight the structures that conspire against all that God desires for creation. As beloved of God, we are required to befriend the power that God bestows on us and, embracing that power, to change lives, communities, institutions, the world. For the love of God.


Saturday 13 July 2019

Running from...

Jonah 1:1-3
Jonah Tries to Run Away from God
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Often, God
I think I know how Jonah felt
Wanting to run away
Anywhere - out of your sight
Away from the tasks to which you call
Avoiding the challenges you present
Cast adrift in a boat
in the vastness of the sea (any sea)
seems quite appealing right now
It’s not that I don’t love you (I do)
It’s not that I don’t want to serve (I do)
But sometimes the love and the service
are simply not enough
Sometimes even owning my identity-
beloved of God
doesn’t ease the churning in my gut
as I strive to follow your call
speaking truth to power 
dismantling patriarchy
constantly being an irritant 
(and other assorted small endeavours!)
God, why do these tasks seem futile
and isolating?
How, in the midst of these
might I find hope?
Where, in the sea of opposition
might I find allies?
How can I be convinced 
that I am enough for all that you ask?
And where might I discover once more
your divine humour
laughing at my attempts to run
reminding me
that you are God
and I am not!!!
Show me again
how to take myself less seriously
and chill 
as you wrap your arms around me
until I feel the shaking of your mirth
holding me close
keeping me from running
then setting me free
to walk closer to you.
And not to run.

Thursday 11 July 2019

Peripheral

Matthew 9:20-22
Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

On his way elsewhere
At the edge of his vision
A woman took her chances,
reached out to touch him 
and stopped him in his tracks.
Though his course was set
his intention clear
still he made space
for the unforeseen
noticing the unexpressed
bringing front and centre
the courage mustered 
and naming the faith enacted.
Displaying compassion
Calling forth wisdom
and pride
Rewarding the risk taken
Honouring the meeting of souls
that happens on the edges
yet, when afforded space
makes healing a possibility.
A peripheral encounter
becomes centre stage.

Sunday 7 July 2019

Promises

My God daughter Charlotte whose son Samuel was baptised today
Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Acts 2:38-39
Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”


Promises made in faith
kept in prayer
fulfilled and passed on
with all the room in the world
for the grace of God
to get to work.
Celebrating the faithfulness of God
from generation to generation 
whose Spirit delivers
 more than we can ask for
or even imagine
whose grace works miracles.
Baptised in the name
of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
As those familiar words were spoken
and promises were made
for a new child of God
loved not for his potential 
but because of who he already is
it brought to mind
all the promises that I’ve made
and witnessed
and been part of
in maternity wards
in hospital chapels
in homes
and in churches.
Promises made
in anguish and in heart break
in hope and in joy
Marking life snuffed out too soon
Anticipating the abundant life God offers
Celebrating a life well lived
All marked with the promise of God
Whether at the beginning 
or at the end.
And, in the remembering 
the promise is renewed
and God’s grace is recognised.
God is present 
Honouring beginnings
and endings
and all the in-betweens
And the sacrament declares anew
that we are called
Beloved of God.
Thanks be to God.





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